Funny-slash-weird

   Today was one of those days where I needed a laugh. I had a long day at work, and then a meeting that lasted until almost ten. By the time I got home, I had been done 14 hours, missed a happy hour with friends, and was starving. So I started heating up leftovers.
   When I walked over to the sink to wash my hands, I noticed something sticking out of the disposal on the other side of the sink. Which was odd, because nearly 100% of my food waste goes into the compost bin. My first thought was that I had absent-mindedly shoved some celery remnants in there while I was making soup.
   Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a SPROUT that was GROWING out of my disposal! Of course it totally grossed me out initially, as I was thinking it was a fungus. Ugh! So I bravely reached my hand down there and pulled out... a large handful of PUMPKIN seeds that must have been washed down there when Dave & I carved pumpkins 3 weeks ago, each with a 6-8" sprout!

   So if you need a pumpkin for Halloween next year, feel free to stop by. I'm growing them inside of my sink.

Saggy Jack

:(

Ol' Man Jack

   Aww, rats! My jolly jack-o-lantern is rapidly melting in the 80-degree temps, and he's getting gums like an little old man! At this rate he'll never make it 'til Halloween! He's kinda cute, though, isn't he?

Halloween Cuties

   Okay, I'll admit it... I sneaked away from my creative directorial duties for a couple of hours this week so that Lynda and Karla could teach me (and a group of illustrators and lettering artists) how to do wool felting. I haven't taken a workshop at work since I became an art director... in 2004. Yikes. I may be a manger, but I'll always be an artist! And I've wanted to learn for YEARS—ever since my sister, Kelley, gave me a kit for Christmas. Which has sat in my closet unused... until now! I was also given a a Shiba kit from Japan by my dear friend Patty, as well as a bagful of Shiba-colored alpaca fiber by a friend who raises alpaca in Columbia, MO.

   I can really go to town now. My plan is to make a spooky black kitty next (an homage to my Atom) to complete this Halloween set, and then to start some Shibas. Wish me luck! I'm really, really skilled at poking my fingertips thousands of times with the needle in the process... but I think they're worth the pain.

Hangin' with alpaca

Alpaca farm

Snug as a Bug in a...

   Mummybag. And hopefully I won't wake up with the drawstring tight around my neck again... Note to self: no tossing & turning!!! How apropos for Halloween, if my friends had found me strangled to death in my tent on a crisp Saturday morning, being feasted upon by hungry werewolv... err, Shibas.

Pumpkin-Palooza

   Dave and I carved pumpkins tonight... something I haven't done in many, many years. I don't know why... it was super-fun! We drank sweet tea-flavored vodka, listened to Metro and Biggie, and then watched the Project Runway finale.

My sketch...

Dave sketches...

Start your engines!

Ooey gooey

Time to remove some guts...

The final products

Who dat?!

Punkinhead Jen!

Dave-a-rino

DJ Punkinhead Dave-a-rino

Spooky punkins at night

Spooky

   Just pulled in the driveway to see a cat that looked eerily like Atom sitting on my front porch. He even has the white patch on his chest! My heart stopped for a second, like I was seeing the ghost of my dear kitty.
   He was skittish but friendly, so I went inside and brought him a handful of cat food—which he appreciated and gobbled up, though he didn't appear to be underweight. He wasn't wearing a collar or ID. I'm NOT taking in another cat, but if he keeps coming around I'll get him to a shelter...

Beware of shibas

   Bet you didn't know that shibas do impressions. It's way too late for Halloween, but Taylor was playing with me on the couch, rolling around & snorting & threatening me with his gaping mouth like a Wereshiba:

   Later that evening, his sister was zonked out. Here she is doing a very convincing dead dog act:

   Even the flash from my Blackberry wasn't enough to rouse her. All she needs is for her tongue to be hanging out, with some flies buzzing around her. Voila: dead dog!

Never a dull moment

   This morning I got up early, fed the dogs & let them outside, then went upstairs to take a shower. The usual routine. Except that when I turned the water off I immediately heard wild barking. Awesome. I'm sure my neighbors really appreciate the 6 am wake up call! I threw a towel around myself & flew down the stairs, yanked the patio door open & saw the dogs standing near the door, looking up & barking at a dark silhouette on top of the bar. I jumped. At first I thought it was another raccoon, but it turned out to be a black cat, and his back was arched & his hair standing like a real Halloween kitty!

   I had disrupted the scene and distracted the dogs, who looked at me just long enough for kitty to make a run for it, hitting the deck & tearing around the side yard, scaling the 6' fence like it was nothing. He sat on top and glowered at the dogs, who were by then right under him. I dragged the dogs in the house to leave the cat in peace. I'm not sure if it was the neighbors' cat, Mitty Moo, or the suspected stray I saw the other day, but I'm betting he won't be back.
   Coincidentally, I had lunch with Madel today & she told me about Pinterest, which suffers from a terrible name but allows you to create "boards" of images that you like, categorized as you wish, & share them with friends. WOW. After a quick setup & Google image search, I turned up the images you see in this post. I'm hooked.

Happy Halloween!

   I bought TONS of candy yesterday because I had a surge in trick-or-treaters last year & ran out of candy, but my plan was thwarted again, as only 15 kids showed up. Though they each got a handful of candy, I still ended up with tons left over. Ah, well. Fodder for the candy jar on my desk at work. (Hear that, Casey?)

   The kids got a kick out of my goofy Geisha costume. If only I could have found my white powder & fake blood, I would have been Zombie Geisha. Either way, I'm sure I looked hilarious from outside, as I was sitting at my dining room table working on my social media presentation, with that goofy wig peeking over my laptop.

Halloween morning at SMP

   I got up before dawn this morning (and all mornings, really, thanks to hungry Aki!), made some coffee, bundled up against the brisk 40 degree weather & headed out to Shawnee Mission Park. I had heard there was an observation tower there, and I thought it would offer a nice view of the sunrise & the fall leaves. It was a little more makeshift & rickety-looking than I expected, so the dogs stayed in the car. (I kinda had Liberty Memorial in my head, and it looked NOTHING like that!) But it did offer a nice view:

   Then I took the dogs over to the park (praying that Taylor wouldn't run off again—like last time!) where I ran into Mary & Willa.

   We talked for a while, then I took a quick hike through the woods. The shibas are so funny: they are so in their element in the woods. One of these days I'm going to have to move out of the suburbs and find a place in the wilderness, preferably on the side of a mountain. But with a grocery store nearby. But I digress...
   After a drive around the park we returned home so I could work on my big presentation for work tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Shiba Halloween

Happy Halloween from me & the pups!

   Last week I was on the CVS website doing testing for work, and noticed a curious photo on one of their calendars: a red shiba with the same Godzilla costume that I got for Aki 3 years ago! What are the odds of THAT?! I like how both are giving the same, "C'mon, SERIOUSLY?!" expression.

   My dogs won't be dressing up this year (since they've outgrown Godzilla). I humiliate them in plenty of other ways! They'll help me pass out candy tonight in their orange bandanas.

Random encounter

   I stopped in to Target this afternoon to load up on Halloween candy for tomorrow (which ended up being tough to predict as always, and I overbought, which I suppose is better than underbuying!)

   I pulled in to a parking spot, and as I got out of the car a nicely-dressed elderly woman got out of the car next to me, kind of chuckling, saying that she didn't do a good job parking. I said that it looked fine to me, and she replied, "Yeah, but I had to back out & pull in a couple of times to straighten out. I wanted to make sure there was enough room for someone to park next to me. I'm glad it was you."

   I laughed and she put her arm around me as we walked toward the entrance. She didn't seem like she needed support, she just liked the camaraderie. There was something cool about her. This story probably sounds strange but it didn't feel that way at all.

   She started asking me if I was there to buy candy, and telling me how much she loves Halloween & how it brings back memories of when her children were little, and how she enjoys seeing her grandkids dressed up. She told me that she used to bake fresh, homemade gingerbread for the kids long ago on Halloween. A few kids liked it, but most didn't have a taste for fresh ginger. I said that I would have loved it!

   She smiled & told me to hold out my hand, and dropped a penny in it. She said, "I found this & I think you should have it."

   "Is it lucky?" I asked.

   She winked at me & we grabbed our carts & parted ways.
"We'll see."

Halloweeeeen

   It's Halloween weekend! Getting ready to leave to stock up on candy for tomorrow night, but TONIGHT I am joining Allyson, Scott & Andrew to visit The Edge of Hell, one of KC's famous 12th Street haunted houses. Frankly, I can't believe I've never been before, 'cause I love that sort of thing, and I can't wait to see what the 5-story warehouse has in store! 

   Kelley sent this photo of her & Eric winning their friends' pumpkin-carving contest for the third year in a row, and I think it's pretty clear why... these are amazing!

Kristin & Jeff made some nice ones, too!

   Unfortunately I missed this year's Halloween party at work, which is usually quite elaborate, given that the participants are mostly artists. The prizes are worth the effort, too: iPods and gift certificates! They've gotten better since I last participated about 8 years ago, when Peter & Bill (my managers) made a giant hoops paper mache head & forced me to wear it. Oh yes, I said "forced." It was so heavy that I'm lucky that I didn't permanently crush any vertebrae! Looking for photos... stay tuned!

   The haunted house was FUN, but I am sure glad we had Scott to lead the way. Most of the 1/4 mile route through the warehouse was pitch black, and you had to feel your way through it. We were clinging to each other the whole way to make sure we didn't get separated. There were many different creepy scenes & animatronic freaks, and it was suspenseful to know that something was likely to jump out & scare you at any time, but not to know where or when. I won't give any spoilers, I'll just say that one of the funniest parts was when one of the actors screamed, "I'M RICK JAMES!"  The scariest part was the machine on the street corner when we left:

Pumpkin Run

   You couldn't have ordered a more perfect day for the 12th annual Jared Cones Memorial 5k run/walk today. The sun was shining & it was a crisp 55 degrees. Tom, who lost both his son Jared & wife Jayne 12 years ago to cancer, started the event in their memory. Funds benefit several great charities: Children's Mercy Cancer Center, The Dream Factory, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Heart of America Bone Marrow Donor Registry, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Solace House, & The Jared Coones Memorial Foundation .
   After check-in, I peeked in the school (this photo's for you, Mom!):

   The route started at Black Bob Elementary, Jared's school, and snaked through a pretty suburban neighborhood—it even went past the family's old house. Click here for news coverage of the race start.

   Here's the finish line, with tons of people cheering on the participants, many of whom were small (adorable) kids:

   I wasn't going for time on this one, considering that I haven't been on a consistent running program since July, and I didn't want to risk further damage to my hips, though I was curious to try them out. Felt great!!! (YAY!) I finished with a time of 28:16.9, 19th in my age group. And afterwards, a big breakfast with friends at Cracker Barrel.

Now I need a nap!